Feasting Follies

Sadio, Me, and Wopa ready to go visiting on Tabaski

It's been a rough couple weeks of holidays here. 

Djiby, Jawo, and Usman slay the goat

First, the household got all excited for the slaughter of a goat for Tabaski, and the ensuing feasting.  I got out the bag of candycorn I'd saved to give the kids who come around visiting in their new clothes (they were wary at first, because the pumpkins and corn kernels look like the two kinds of hot peppers that grow here...)

Trick-or-treaters, basically

The first day found me in an already slightly ill state, from some unknown cause, but after the first meal of fried meat and rice dripping in oil I was in true gastric distress. (It lasted several days, just long enough to hold me over till the next illness - a nasty cold that every single villager has contracted).

Helping cut onions

I wasn't the only one who reacted adversely to the surfeit of rich food - after that first meal, Woura and I requested soup and plain rice for the next few days. By the second day of meaty, oily meals everybody in the household had stomach cramps and was begging for milk and biscuits.  It made me wonder, yet again, why they spend all that money and time preparing rich meals that just upset their digestive systems....

Then came Thanksgiving.

Herman, as we christened him

Now it was our turn to get excited for the slaughter of a turkey, who had been bought from a nearby town and was being kept live in the backyard of the regional house. None of us were too savvy, but Geoff took the helm and we managed to kill, gut, pluck and deep-fry the fellow.  The rest of us spent all day and a fair amount of footwork and money (not to mention earlier contributions from the States that had arrived via mail) to get the necessary items for all the classic Thanksgiving dishes.

I made the dressing

Meg and Geoff 'carve' (e.g hack)

The dinner turned out to be a masterpiece, better than last year.  We even went around and said what we were thankful for.  We stayed up playing Scrabble, Taboo, poker and other games, and talking wistfully about holiday traditions back in the States...

Charlene, Wilma and Cara working on a puzzle

The next morning it all came back to haunt us, and it was a rare moment when the two bathrooms were unoccupied or not foul-smelling.  I'd be willing to bet that 3/4 of that delicious food we labored over came out less than fully digested. Actually, I still haven't completely recovered, and that made me realize that we, like Senegalese villagers, also eat certain foods for the sake of holiday tradition, regardless of the discomfort we know it will cause us afterward, and the effort and money it costs to prepare. I guess I can't judge anymore.

I hope everyone had a great holiday back home and the beginning of winter weather isn't cramping your style too much. Sending love from Kolda!

I brewed an IPA the day before Thanksgiving